October 26th, 1999

Rotten Radio coming to the internet this Saturday! Read the following from mtv.com...

JOHNNY ROTTEN TURNED LOOSE ONLINE

Care to spend your Saturday afternoons with Johnny Rotten?

Under his more traditional moniker, John Lydon, the former Sex Pistols and Public Image Limited frontman will greet the world each week from his Los Angeles home courtesy of the folks at eYada.com. The all-talk online radio site has landed Lydon to host "Rotten Radio," a weekly show airing live each Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m. Eastern time.

The show promises to carry Lydon's "uncensored" thoughts on life, pop culture, politics, and whatever else haunts his gloriously contentious mind. Lydon and eYada plan to launch "Rotten Radio" this Saturday, October 30, and fans will be able to check out the proceedings in live streaming audio.

- Thanks to Psychospth and Ryan for the info!



October 18th, 1999

Did anyone catch the John Lydon mentions on MTV this weekend? Here are the reviews I've received so far:

'Good ole Johnny did it again,this weekend he was on MTV. John was featured on a show called MTV uncensored, which remebers past events and guests in MTV's history. Johnny was introduced into a segment about interviews gone wrong. THe consensus among Kurt Loder, Kennedy and Serena Atschule was that Johnny was always causing some aurgument when he was on MTV. They showed old footage of johnny swearing at Kennedy, and Kurt Loder. They also showed a clip of MTV Europe and of some rare johnny music video footage. Johnny Rotten has once again become the topic on national tv, he's still got it.'
- Thanks to Robert

'MTV aired a special called "MTV Uncensored" recently in which they reminisced over old times and upon reminiscing over interviews they voted Johnny the most exasperating interview of MTV history. They only showed a few clips from over the years which were all ones consisting of interviews where Johnny has ripped off microphones, walked out early, and told MTV to "fuck off". It was not exactly complimentary.'
- Thanks to Psychospth!

'Not sure if you've seen this yet, but they showed John in various interview clips. It also had VJs talking about interviewing him. The Lydon piece is like 2-3 minutes and shows classic Lydon! It re-airs at 8pmEST/7pmCST Sun. night. I haven't checked to see when it will be shown again, but since it's MTV, I'm sure the thing will be re-aired several more times!'
- Thanks to Jenni!

hope you caught john on mtv last night on the uncensored show it was great they showed almost every great johnny clip mtv has had minus the making of dont ask me and lydon in mexico witch i was present at it was insane it was at iguanas in tijuana and john walked out on stage with a surfboard with is picture on it and played lovesong and then the video was made for covered witch was great because the only video ive ever seen made happend to be that of my favorite band'
- Thanks to Chris!



October 13th, 1999

Some info from the screening of 'The Filth and the Fury' last night in London...

First, Mary writes to tell us that 'A preview was held in the Curzon Theatre in Shaftsbury Avenue, London last night 12th October. This was basically for Critics and a few invited Guests. Please let us know if you have heard any reviews.'

Well, Mary, here's Graham's rave review...

'I was fortunate enough to attend a viewing of the Sex Pistols documentary 'The Filth And The Fury', a film bristling with energy and emotion. Largely narrated by John and balanced with the additional perspectives of Steve, Paul and Glen, footage of the band (both on and off stage) is contextualised with images of the grim and troubled Britain of the mid Seventies. John is overwhelmingly courageous in sharing his deep felt emotions when talking about the loss of his close friend Sid (also 'a John'); putting in perspective (and almost to shame) the 'loss' experienced by fans when the band dissolved.
Although the tragedy of Sid's heroin addiction and the atrocious mis-management of the Pistols form part of the picture, there is also humour (usually John's) and a garish mix of cultural counterpoints from Laurence Olivier hamming Richard III through to comedians Tommy Cooper and Benny Hill and innocuous TV advertisements of the day; all part of the fuel!
Particularly revealing footage shows the band demonstrating a real grassroots concern for the 'state of the nation' when they play free shows (including a matinee performnce) for the kids and families of striking workers. John hands out cake to the delighted children before taking the stage to play 'Bodies'; the kids love it! Directed by Julian Temple, the film plunders some of the images created for the McLaren driven vehicle 'The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle' (also directed by Temple), but there is no fabrication in this honest and inspiring film.'

- Thanks to both Mary and Graham for this great update! Did anyone else see this and would like to submit a review?



October 12th, 1999

Deanna writes to tell us more about the Roseanne Show incident:

i also saw the tidbit about the roseanne show..they showed john getting his hair fixed, drinking from a coffee cup and him saying hi to the office people. then they showed a lady telling him to be polite to roseanne, and he said he wouldn't be censored and if he did say something derogatory, it would be because she deserved it. they then showed him with several women and them telling him and the crew to go and that they were serious, and then they left. john outside showed a letter that was a show agreement but didnt go into detail about what the agreement was. then john said in effect that he only gets rude when he's treated badly and that he felt he had been. the announcer of the clip said 'what did they expect' after the lady had advised him to be polite.

- Thanks for the update!



October 10th, 1999

Here's some more info regarding the scheduled Roseanne appearance...

Erin writes:
i saw on vh-1 news the other day that johnny was kicked off or left the roseanne show because he was pissed off. johnny was told that he had to be nice to roseanne and behave and he told them that he will basically say what he wants and is she has it coming to her he will say it. the clip showed johnny in a bomber jacket with fire engine red short hair

Heath writes:
my sister tells me that vh-1 ran a newsclip on friday evening about the roseanne show. apparently, john and roseanne got in some kind of fight and he was thrown off the set. she said that he was a guest in the v-h1 studio and said that he filmed a behind-the-scenes of the entire incident for rotten tv. (which he was appearing on roseanne to promote, by the way) i'd tell you more, but she only caught the 2nd half of the report.



October 9th, 1999

Why was John a no-show Friday? Dino tells us what happened...

I spoke to Roseanne's productiion office today and they said that Roseanne has been sick this week and they were supposed to shoot Johnny yesterday but they cancelled all tapings and are having a meeting today to figure out where they stand. She said that she doesn't know if or when they will reschedule Johnny on the program

Everyone keep your eyes open for a bit. The show could be rescheduled anytime soon!



October 7th, 1999

The Roseanne Show that John's on Friday is currently in syndication. That means, you may or may not get it where you live (in the US) depending on if your local stations choose to carry it or not. Sadly, I don't get it on my local channels, so if anyone gets The Roseanne Show, and can tape it, please have mercy on me and send me a copy! (I know I can buy the tape from their burrells.com link, but my experience with them has been mediocre at best.) Again, check your local listings, because the site lists local stations that carry the show - but the info is very outdated and some of them don't show her program anymore.

I've just finished re-uploading the site after some changes. Please e-mail me if you find ANYTHING wrong - broken links, undownloadable files, etc. Thanks!

David tips us off to an article/interview on a UFO website called ParaScope. John happened to be present with a friend during a discussion/interview with multimillionaire Silicon Valley entrepreneur Joe Firmage. Here's an excerpt:

I confess I was a little star-struck, meeting "Johnny Rotten," one of my boyhood heroes. I was at the last Sex Pistols concert at Winterland in San Francisco. I told Lydon that and he laughed and said, "From that to this, eh?"

Lydon looked energetic and sober; he was dressed in a day-glo lime-colored baseball shirt and cap, but says he's not a baseball fan. He struck me as very intelligent indeed, his mind racing ahead, and there was something almost Zen-like about his presence, the sense that he was just here in the moment embracing the chaos of life. He gave out a vibe of not caring at all what people think of him, yet he was friendly, and kind when my 12-year-old son asked him for an autograph. He has a show of his own coming up on VH-1 called "The Rotten Hour."




October 6th, 1999

UPDATE:

John will be a guest on this Friday's ROSEANNE Show. Sorry about the program mix-up yesterday. Check your local listings for times!

- Thanks to Dan (again)



September 20th, 1999

Garofalo's AOL chat got cancelled. It's unknown why at the moment. If anyone on AOL reads about a rescheduling, please let me know.

If you're looking for 'The Order of Death' single from 'Blair Witch', I have no idea when you'll be able to find it in your local store. For those of you who don't want to wait, do what I did and buy it on eBay. It's just the original version, plus a 'Blair Witch' remix, which, from what I read, is the same song with some lines from the movie thrown in. Great if you're a PiL collector, I suppose.

And yet another interesting 'Plastic Box' review...

REQUEST magazine (Sam Goody's In-Store Magazine)

PiL
Plastic Box (Virgin)

76 (out of 100)

Smart guy, John Lydon.  But between the pointless Sex Pistols reunion and his L.A. radio-deejay gig, he'd become a bit cartoonish---a punk Mick Jagger.  Good thing his work speaks for itself.  Actually, this five-hour retrospective screams for itself  Remember Me!? I'm important! F--- you!

Public Image Limited was provocative and precarious---part riffy fun, part unlistenable noise.  The first two of the four discs in Plastic Box document the band's seminal sonic cocktail bassist Jah Wobble and drummer Martin Atkins' tribal/industrial caterwauls, guitarist Keith Levene's primal keen, and Lydon's whine.  You can hear its echo all over the musical map, from Sleater-Kinney and ambient dub remixes to U2.  The pleasant surprise is disc three, a solid slice of mid-80s hits and Bill Laswell-produced art-funk. Disc four?  Different musicians, overproduced, kind of irritating, though the '92 BBC sessions provide an interesting counterpoint.  For true fans, Plastic Box provides the goodies---radio sessions, dance mixes, and candid liner notes by Lydon (and no one else, alas).Most of all, it makes a statement.  The man always has been good at that.
---Jason Cohen

- Thanks to Brian



September 20th, 1999

'Psychospth' tells us Janeane Garofalo is doing an AOL chat tomorrow (21st) at 7:00pm EST. For those of you who don't know, she made a movie called 'The Independent' that I don't believe has been released yet. John apparently has a cameo as a gay waiter in it. If anyone can, please join the chat and ask her what the status of the movie is and when it's coming out. Please let me know what you find out! (I don't use AOL.)



September 8th, 1999

Josh sends us the following tidbit on the upcoming VH1 show...

'Hey there, I was just walking out the door monday and vh1 was talking about him and rotten tv. I think it was vh1 news or something , and I didnt catch any dates but they said this fall, Rotten tv is coming. and they showed him on the judge judy show they refered to him as Mr.Happy. I wish I could see it again from the begining. Im sure it will be on again so keep watching, I will.'

And Shaun tips us off about the following...

'I recently purchased All-Star 2000 Baseball for Nintendo 64.  During the opening of the game they play a song called "Open Up", which is created to John Lydon.  I was wondering if he specifically made this song for the game or if Nintendo just decided to use it.'

They probably just 'borrowed' it. But still very cool! Thanks to both of you for the great info!

And finally, I'm very aware some of the video links don't work anymore. Due to limited server space, I will be deleting most of the larger files soon. Not only is there a limited space issue, but they take forever to re-upload once they get messed up (which I still don't know why). I can't be sure exactly which ones are working/not working, but if there is a big clip you've been meaning to download, please do it soon (at your own risk!) because they will be gone soon.



August 31st, 1999

Once again, Brian alerts us to a great new interview with John last week from the Cleveland Plain Dealer: (Thanks Brian!)

HAPPY EX-PISTOL JOHN LYDON REFUSES TO BE HUNG UP ON PAST
JIM SULLIVAN - BOSTON GLOBE

08/25/1999
The Plain Dealer Cleveland, OH
FINAL / ALL
Page 3E
(Copyright (c) The Plain Dealer 1999)

John Lydon - once (and probably forever) known as Johnny Rotten - does not stomp around the world in a bad mood, contrary to popular belief. "How could I walk around angry?" Lydon says, his voice rising in mock-horror. "I am not like that at all. I mean, when the song is about a specific subject, then I can be angry. But I am jolly and substantive."

At 42, he's happily married and living in Venice Beach, Calif. He's still funny, acerbic, and opinionated. "Humor is the best way of dealing with complete and utter nonsense," says the former singer for the Sex Pistols and for Public image Ltd., a band whose career is reviewed in a recently released four-CD set.

The wild-eyed punk rocker who in 1976 sang of the Sex Pistols as "the poison in the human machine," looks at humankind this way now "I am more amused. I have always spent more time having fun with things than being miserable and down." This goes back to the Pistols days; there was often a laugh mixed with the vitriol.

But Lydon's idea of fun certainly includes expressing disdain for the rampant banalities of today's culture. The pop music business, for which he has long expressed a deep loathing, is at a nadir in Lydon's opinion. Consider the chart-topping rap-metal group that is Limp Bizkit.

"Hello!" Lydon says, sounding a wake-up call. "The whole Limp Bizkit thing is completely manufactured. That band is so aptly named. It does sum up the industry right now One big Limp Biz kit. {Their young fans} aren't interested in anything at all and they think it's clever not to be interested. They spend a great deal of time unlearning and being victims, ultimately. There's some people like that in every generation, but this seems to be the majority in this one. Let them enjoy being stupid, because in 20 years' time they are going to be one sorry, sad sack of people, unemployingly ignorant. To see knowledge as something boring, and to have it celebrated ..."

Lydon is unwilling to don a salesman's jacket about the retrospective CD set, "Plastic Box."

"These are records I released a long time ago," mused Lydon, of the package, "and I'm kind of indifferent. If somebody likes it, then I'm pleased. If not, well, so what? I have other things I'm starting on. You know I'm always up to something."

Part of Lydon's professed indifference to "Plastic Box" probably has to do with the fact that it was released by Virgin, a label with which he has long feuded and is no longer connected. "It's an outrage that a label like Virgin would find great difficulty with Public image and put out {bad music} like the Smashing Pumpkins which does nothing but right-out imitate the '80s."

Post-punk charge

Public image Ltd., which released its debut in 1979, helped lead England's post-punk charge, making music that had the edge and intensity of punk but with less attention to verse/chorus/verse "rock" structures.

The early PiL began as something of an idealistic collective. Various fallings-out and frequent personnel shifts over the years left the public impression that Lydon-plus-whoever was PiL. With those changes came changes in sound a stark, percussive-heavy sound with the "Metal Box" and "Flowers of Romance" albums, a more melodic, but still enjoyably abrasive, approach with "Album," a more traditional-sounding rock era ushered in with "Happy?" Public image Ltd. flitted in and out of the alternative rock Zeitgeist, scoring with the songs "This Is Not a Love Song," "Rise," and "Disappointed."

Lydon doesn't care for labels or quick sketches. Nor does he care for a common line of thought that suggests PiL flattened out and became more conservative over time. "There aren't any phases, just different members," he insists. The aforementioned theory "is a very lazy outlook the British music press came up with and it's nonsense. This is one of the very few outfits that does not believe in compromise. I can't think of any two PiL songs that are similar. Sometimes we messed about with an absolute, strict formula for a `rock' song, or a `country' song or a `pop' song. Sometimes, we took it 10 steps further. Whatever was necessary for the song. I think PiL played some of the smartest hard rock possible.'

In 1996, Lydon brought together his old mates in the Sex Pistols for a reunion tour, risking the nostalgia tag and suffering many slings and arrows.

"It was about paying a lot of outstanding debts," Lydon says. "We went out without hardly any equipment and did it the way we always did. No nonsense. Small guitar amps, a minimized drum kit. All the rest is garbage and fluff, a cover-up for basic inadequacy. Well, the Pistols were basically inadequate, I suppose, but it didn't matter. It's the content. If you've got something to say, all the rest fits naturally into play. ..."

Lydon released a strong, but mostly unheard, solo album two years ago. Public image Ltd. exists, he says, "in my mind. It is very difficult to raise the money to finance it now. There is a lot of animosity toward a group that won't play by the norms. We have always been viewed spitefully and it's always presumed we're doing {our music} to spite people. When we're in fact not. Everything is begrudged to PiL."

What is in the future? John Lydon , TV talk show host? VH1 has a show in development with Lydon. "It's not a set show," he says, "not a weepy guest celebrity nonsense. It does not have a format, which is murderous on any sort of writing. There might be music, there might not be. Everything will be on a tightrope. I don't want the world to expect any great, suave, well-produced thing at all. This will raise more questions than answers."



August 30th, 1999

The web site for the upcoming September Toronto International Film Festival still has no listing for 'The Filth and the Fury' Pistols documentary. It is supposed to be shown there first, so I'll keep checking with them.

Brian tips us off to this great review of Plastic Box at Tower Records.

Still no new info from VH1 about 'Rotten TV'. As soon as news hits, you'll read it here first!

Did anyone catch the 'The Best Of The Word' show a couple weeks ago (see news below)? I'd like to post any reviews, comments, clips, etc. if anyone has any.



August 11th, 1999

Attention Britons! Brian reports the following...

This Friday's edition of 'The Best Of The Word' - a Friday night youth TV show on British TV's Channel 4 - will feature a classic interview with Mr Lydon.

I missed it first time round but understand it's highly amusing. Which Lydon interview isn't? It should be on at 1030 pm British time on Friday the 13th of August. Unfortunately I don't have a video so I won't be able to record it. If you have contacts this side of the Atlantic (and presumably you have) then get them to record it.

This information is derived from last Friday's show when at the end of each show they show a sample of what will be on next week's show. Sure enough there was a clip of our mutual friend mouthing off.

I seem to still be receiving e-mail asking where the PiL song 'The Order of Death' is played during the movie 'The Blair Witch Project' (since there is no music in the movie at all). Again, the soundtrack is based off the compilation tape the police found in the tape deck of Josh's car. 'The Order of Death' was one of the songs on the mix tape. That's why you'll never hear that song, or any other in the movie. More or less a merchandising ploy so you shell out money for a non-existant soundtrack.



August 8th, 1999

A bit of info on the 'Blair Witch' soundtrack...

The soundtrack for a film with no music? Yes, it's true. Josh's Blair Witch Mix takes the high concept of "music inspired by the film" to new extremes: this is the mix tape found in Josh's car on the fateful night the "documentary" was filmed. Whatever the case, Josh's is filled with the doom-and-gloom sounds of vintage goth and industrial tracks and the occasional "scared silly" movie sound bites. It's a strong compilation with classic tunes by Lydia Lunch, P.I.L., Bauhaus, the Creatures, Front Line Assembly, and others.
(source: amazon.com)



July 27th, 1999

Some info on the upcoming Pistols documentary...

Julian Temple says the film will debut at the Toronto International Film Festival Sept. 9-18.  He also said a soundtrack with Pistols and other material is in the works.


And, to wrap up this update... there will be a new poll up as soon as the free poll site is back up and running - it's going to be a great one too! Many thanks to everyone for putting their two-cents in so far! Check back soon for more up-to-date info on John Lydon...



July 15th, 1999

I contacted VH1 regarding 'Rotten Television' and here is their reply...

Thanks for your note. VH1's new show, Johnny Rotten will premiere later this year. I do not have a premiere date yet, but watch for promotion of the show on the air and online in the coming month or two. Thanks for watching VH1.

So, there you have it. We'll just have to be patient and start looking for the promos.

'The Order of Death' will be included on the soundtrack to the new movie 'The Blair Witch Project'.

- Thanks to Daniel

If you're still looking for a copy of 'Corrupt', you can buy it at amazon.com.

- Thanks to Adam



July 6th, 1999

Hope everyone here in the US had a lovely 4th of July. For me, it was a little too hot here in the Eastern US to even go outside, so I was homebound for the holiday. Anyway, on to a bit of news...


There's a new movie coming out called The Blair Witch Project (this site runs very slow) which will possibly feature a PiL song in the soundtrack. From what I know, this film is based on semi-real events, somewhat of an indie-film I believe.

- Thanks to Daniel.

'Plastic Box' is now pretty much easily available, if you know where to look. I have reports of it being sold at Best Buy stores in the US, as well as online at amazon.com, cdnow.com and buy.com for as low as $27.95.

I've started a new poll.

And finally, the message board was getting a little too large to download and you weren't able to post to messages that were posted before it crashed a couple weeks ago - only the recent ones, so I've cleaned it up again. Enjoy!